Ye Shangzhou was both angry and furious, and there was also a hint of barely perceptible grievance. He had clearly restrained himself a lot for Qiao Zhen, but she was still not satisfied.
That evening, as Qiao Zhen was helping Ye Shangzhou bathe, she inadvertently noticed footprints on the hem of his robe. She recognized them—the soles of palace maids' shoes. In an instant, she understood why Ye Shangzhou insisted on executing that palace maid.
That palace maid should be executed.
She instructed a palace maid to invite Grand Tutor Ma to Yishui Pavilion half an hour before the court session the next day.
The next day, Grand Tutor Ma arrived on time, and Qiao Zhen was also waiting in the side hall. She took out the clothes that Ye Shangzhou had worn the day before, saying, "Please, Grand Tutor Ma, take a look at the hem of the clothes yourself."
Grand Tutor Ma didn't ask any further questions, but simply bowed in greeting. Then he picked up his robe and examined it closely. When he saw the shoe print, his withered finger pointed to it and asked, "What is this?"
Qiao Zhen's expression was somewhat solemn. "As you can see, the reason why His Majesty executed that palace maid yesterday was because of this."
Grand Tutor Ma found the matter absurd. He lowered his voice and said, "Leaving aside whether the footprints are real or fake, the fact that His Majesty executed a palace maid for this is truly cruel. Does Madam think His Majesty did the right thing?"
Qiao Zhen sneered, "Isn't that right?"
Ma Taifu's expression was solemn.
Qiao Zhen slowly explained, "You don't need to rush to refute me. His Majesty is cruel, and the palace maids serving him are all carefully selected. How could they do something so careless? Yesterday, you were teaching His Majesty the way of a gentleman, but that palace maid stepped on the hem of His Majesty's robe. I'll be frank with you, His Majesty has had a leg ailment for many years. Can't you see the knot in his heart? Do you, sirs, really think there's nothing wrong with him?"
"You are Gongzi Jin's man. Whether someone is using the emperor's injury to sow discord between the emperor and Gongzi Jin, or whether they want to use Gongzi Jin to raise an army and gain some benefit from it, we don't know. The emperor is unreasonable, and neither are the Grand Tutors?"
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